A prominent Chinese commentator has claimed that Bitcoin was created by US intelligence agencies, describing it as the biggest scam in existence. Jiang Xueqin, known online as Professor Jiang, made the remarks in lectures that have gone viral across social media in recent days.
The self-styled predictive historian has previously gained attention for forecasting major geopolitical events including Donald Trump's return to the White House and tensions with Iran. The claims, which echo long-standing conspiracy theories, have sparked intense debate online. The theory has divided the cryptocurrency community.
Professor Jiang's Explosive Theory
The Beijing-based high-school teacher and Yale-educated Chinese-Canadian educator has built a substantial following through his unedited classroom lectures on the YouTube channel Predictive History. In talks shared earlier this year, Jiang argues Bitcoin is not the libertarian brainchild of a pseudonymous inventor but a state-sponsored project.
He claims it was engineered by the Pentagon as 'the ultimate surveillance technology', asserting that Bitcoin was created by the CIA and the Deep State, calling it the biggest scam in existence. The fully transparent ledger, he contends, allows authorities to track financial flows with unprecedented precision far beyond what is possible with cash.
Jiang questions how a single individual or small group could have mustered the resources, servers and expertise needed to launch a global monetary system in 2008, describing Satoshi Nakamoto's anonymity as institutionally suspicious.
Why the Claims Resonate Now
Jiang frames his analysis as predictive history, a blend of structural geopolitics and game theory. His four main points include the anonymity of Satoshi Nakamoto, precedents of US military research spin-offs such as DARPA's role in the internet, the suitability of the open blockchain for tracking transactions and the possibility that the CIA could use Bitcoin to fund covert operations.
He even cited the Winklevoss brothers' large-scale investments as possible evidence of insider knowledge. The argument taps into broader anxieties about US imperial decline and an impending monetary reset, positioning Bitcoin as both a product and potential casualty of American power as markets treat it as digital gold.
Reactions In the Crypto World
Experts have been quick to push back, describing the claims as speculative leaps unsupported by public evidence. While Bitcoin's transparency does aid law enforcement in tracing illicit funds, there is no public evidence linking Bitcoin's creation to DARPA, the Pentagon, or the CIA. Some academics have accused Jiang of mixing verifiable historical patterns with baseless conspiracy.
Crypto circles have responded with a mixture of amusement and dismissal. Many point out that Bitcoin operates on a decentralised network of thousands of independent nodes worldwide rather than any central servers. The crypto community is divided on whether to take the theory seriously or view it as entertaining speculation. On the social platform X, the popular account WatcherGuru amplified the story with a post highlighting the claims.
JUST IN: 🇨🇳 Popular Chinese commentator 'Professor Jiang' claims Bitcoin is a "CIA operation." pic.twitter.com/XTJa29XZXT
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 15, 2026
As of 16 April 2026, clips of Jiang's lectures continue to circulate widely on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. The episode highlights persistent questions about the true forces shaping the digital economy even as Bitcoin attracts mainstream attention and trades near record levels. The remarks come at a time when Bitcoin continues to draw institutional interest despite its volatile history.
